Carey Nieuwhof had a great post entitled, 5 Signs Bad Governance Is Stifling Your Church’s Growth and Mission. In a previous post that he no longer has posted, Niewshof had some great points on how committees can knock the wind out of good ideas. In his post, he said,
When it comes to courageous change, here are four things that are true:
Committees kill vision
Individuals are almost always more courageous than teams
The more people you seek to please up front, the less inspiring your idea will become
Leaders don’t always walk alone, but sometimes they have to start alone.
Carey Nieuwhof
As someone who has worked in a creative environment, I have seen this happen wherever I worked. I have seen this happen to my ideas. And I must admit, I’ve been on the other side of the table and have killed or watered down others’ ideas. After all, that’s what critique groups are for, right?
Actually, no! Committees and critique groups are gatekeepers to ideas. If you have a great idea, it is your job to sell it to the group.
- This will require you to do your homework.
- This will require you to fight for your idea.
- It may even require you to compromise a little. But you must have the courage and conviction to fight for your idea.
That doesn’t mean every idea you have is worth fighting for. You’ll have to do your homework and be prepared to decide. Once you know that it is an idea worthy of selling, then have the courage to sell it.
That’s how great ideas are born.
Editor’s Note: I originally published this blog on October 6, 2015. I revamped and updated it for timeliness and comprehensiveness.
